A surprise downpour right before the meeting time had my friend Doyoon and me a little worried Haenuri-gil Course 4 would turn into a soggy, miserable morning, but the rain broke just as the walk was starting — one of those small strokes of luck that set the tone for the rest of the day. We gathered at Chorok Park, where Course 3 had left off, ducking under a shelter until the last drops passed.
A community facility near the Chorok Park starting point, just after the rain cleared.
Route waypoints
An uphill start, no easing in
Course 4 doesn’t bother with a gentle warm-up — the trail climbs steeply right from the start, steep enough that everyone in our group detoured briefly through a nearby building for a bathroom stop before properly committing to the ascent. It’s a short, sharp reminder that this course, despite being one of the shorter Haenuri-gil sections, isn’t entirely flat.
Onto Jangsan Nuri-gil’s forest paths
Once the initial climb eases off, the trail settles into a comfortable forest path, largely overlapping with Jangsan Nuri-gil’s own trail markers through this stretch of Haeundae’s forested hills. We passed a small, unexpected cluster of totem poles along the way — the kind of oddly specific roadside detail that makes a forest walk memorable — before continuing along a wide, flat forest road for a long, easy stretch.
Autumn color was just starting to show through the trees, and more than one person in the group mentioned wanting to come back and see how the same stretch looks in spring instead — Course 4, it turns out, shares a fair bit of its route with Gamnaetgil’s own Course 9-2 section, so regular Gamnaetgil walkers will find some of the scenery familiar.
Bansong Park’s quiet color
The trail eventually leaves the forest road for pavement briefly before entering Bansong Park through a marked stone gate — a well-maintained neighborhood park with its own distinct autumn character compared to the forest section just before it. This became our main rest stop of the day: a proper break for snacks, a bathroom, and enough time that a couple of us ended up trying out a small playground carousel that happened to be sitting right by the path, for no better reason than it was there.
Finishing near Damangol Park
From Bansong Park, a short remaining stretch of forest trail brought us out along the edge of an apartment complex, down a narrow access path running parallel to the buildings, before crossing a road into a red trellis tunnel leading to Damangol Park — bare of any actual roses when we passed, though it wasn’t hard to imagine what it would look like in full bloom. The walk ended there, shorter than most Gamnaetgil-network courses at just over 5 km, and more than one person in the group admitted to being a little disappointed it wrapped up so soon.
Trail info at a glance
- Distance: approx. 5.3–6 km
- Walking time: about 2 hours, average pace 2.8 km/h
- Difficulty: Moderate at the start (a steep initial climb), easy afterward
- Start: Chorok Park
- Finish: Damangol Park
- Highlights: Jangsan Nuri-gil forest road, Bansong Park, the red trellis tunnel at the finish
Map of the route
The route at a glance
A few practical notes
The steep climb right out of Chorok Park is brief but genuinely tough if you haven’t warmed up, so a short stretch beforehand isn’t a bad idea. Rest spots are limited along most of this route, so it’s worth waiting for Bansong Park to take your main break rather than trying to stop earlier. Because this course is shorter than most, it pairs naturally with Course 3 or Course 5 if you want a fuller day of walking.
For more on getting around Haeundae, see our guide to getting around Busan.
Walked in early November, just after a morning shower cleared, with the first hints of autumn color showing in the forest.
More walks nearby
Other walks in Gijang and the east coast on this site: